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Becca's Reviews > Savage Stone Age
Savage Stone Age (Horrible Histories)
by
by
** spoiler alert **
3.75 stars*
This review is 100% my own opinion! I did enjoy this book - obviously it’s written for kids so there is that element of toilet humour etc but I did find myself chuckling at some parts. I love the Horrible Histories show (up to & including series 5) and have always wanted to read the books so I’m glad to have got started on my collection! (I also read this because I want to read 60 books this year and this was a helpful way of reaching that oops).
Savage Stone Age isn’t my favourite era in history (actually it’s probably my least favourite unfortunately) so that’s partly why I gave this a slightly lower rating. I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy the books as much as the show but I’ll read them all anyway as I love learning & history!
I did enjoy learning about the Stone Age including how people lived, what they ate, how they cared for their deceased relatives & how Stone Henge came to be. I thought it was explained clearly and was fairly accessible for all ages - it gives you a good starting point if you want to learn more about a particular era.
Unfortunately there were a couple of parts I wasn’t too keen on. There is a part which talks about how God apparently made Adam out of clay and blew up his nostrils to bring him to life (and something about getting snot as a result?). As someone who is religious, I found this slightly offensive and not really necessary for the story? And when talking about archaeologists, they are referred to as clever or good archaeologists and dumb archaeologists - I feel this was sort of rude? In my opinion, any finding (no matter if it is right or what was expected) is a beneficial finding and if perhaps someone was wrong in their finding, it just means that another route should be explored. I don’t think the fact that an archaeologist was wrong in their finding makes them dumb - everyone is learning & it just opens new paths for exploration.
Overall, I did enjoy this one but it is definitely geared towards children - I do think it is a good way to engage children with history at a young age, but I did feel slightly uncomfortable with some of the narrative in terms of religion and calling someone who is doing good work ‘dumb’. But I’m glad to have read this & made a start in the box set I have - and it will help me towards my end of year goal!
This review is 100% my own opinion! I did enjoy this book - obviously it’s written for kids so there is that element of toilet humour etc but I did find myself chuckling at some parts. I love the Horrible Histories show (up to & including series 5) and have always wanted to read the books so I’m glad to have got started on my collection! (I also read this because I want to read 60 books this year and this was a helpful way of reaching that oops).
Savage Stone Age isn’t my favourite era in history (actually it’s probably my least favourite unfortunately) so that’s partly why I gave this a slightly lower rating. I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy the books as much as the show but I’ll read them all anyway as I love learning & history!
I did enjoy learning about the Stone Age including how people lived, what they ate, how they cared for their deceased relatives & how Stone Henge came to be. I thought it was explained clearly and was fairly accessible for all ages - it gives you a good starting point if you want to learn more about a particular era.
Unfortunately there were a couple of parts I wasn’t too keen on. There is a part which talks about how God apparently made Adam out of clay and blew up his nostrils to bring him to life (and something about getting snot as a result?). As someone who is religious, I found this slightly offensive and not really necessary for the story? And when talking about archaeologists, they are referred to as clever or good archaeologists and dumb archaeologists - I feel this was sort of rude? In my opinion, any finding (no matter if it is right or what was expected) is a beneficial finding and if perhaps someone was wrong in their finding, it just means that another route should be explored. I don’t think the fact that an archaeologist was wrong in their finding makes them dumb - everyone is learning & it just opens new paths for exploration.
Overall, I did enjoy this one but it is definitely geared towards children - I do think it is a good way to engage children with history at a young age, but I did feel slightly uncomfortable with some of the narrative in terms of religion and calling someone who is doing good work ‘dumb’. But I’m glad to have read this & made a start in the box set I have - and it will help me towards my end of year goal!
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Reading Progress
December 25, 2021
–
Started Reading
December 25, 2021
– Shelved
December 25, 2021
–
22.22%
"(Please don’t judge!) I’m a huge HH fan (up until Series 5) and I’ve had the complete collection for a few years now and want to read it, so starting here! Also I want to read 60+ books this year & am so close - this should help! 👀 loving it so far!"
page
32
December 26, 2021
–
31.25%
"I get that this is a kids book & it’s meant to be funny but there are some jabs at religion that are making me a bit uncomfortable? Like saying God took a lump of clay and made man, before breathing up the clay man’s nostrils to bring him to life? Sorry but I’m not a fan of this commentary at all 🤷🏻♀️"
page
45
December 27, 2021
–
69.44%
"I’m finding this book references some archaeologists as clever and others as dumb? Yet in my opinion, any sort of finding is beneficial in the long run - just because the answer is not what was expected doesn’t mean that the person is dumb? It’s still a finding and just means that another line of inquiry should be followed?"
page
100
December 27, 2021
–
Finished Reading
